Members of the Canine Club had a dog-gone good time at September’s monthly meeting thanks to special visitors from the Union County Sheriff’s Office Canine Unit! Lieutenant James, Deputy Grant, Deputy Walden, Deputy Seaman, and Deputy Mills along with canine officers Zorro, Santos, Justice, and Sammy came to the meeting to talk to students about the use of canine officers.
Deputies discussed the selection of canines for law enforcement work which often involves working with breeders in Europe, the initial training process which can take six to twelve weeks, and what it is like to work with canine officers. Students learned that canine officers often have some tasks that they enjoy more than others and some are trained only for certain tasks- like searching for missing children, fugitive search and apprehension, or drug and item searches.
Students were very excited to get to pet and play with Justice, a bloodhound who is well known in Union County from his many social media and television appearances. Students also were able to see Deputies Walden and Seaman and Santos stage an apprehension demonstration (which you can see on Instagram if you follow @catacougars) and watched Deputy Walden and Sammy demonstrate a drug search.
Canine Club will be holding a class competition change collection the week of October 7th to benefit the Canine Unit and all proceeds will be donated to help them purchase protective gear for their canine officers. Canine Club is very grateful to the members of the Canine Unit who were able to attend the meeting to help us prepare for the fundraiser.
